Ensign Chatman vs Commander Riker
by Chuckie Anelli
Summary: This was a freaky dream I had that I guess came about after overdosing on too much TNG. It's the story of a frustrated young Ensign working out his issues on the wrong person....Commander William T. Riker


Ensign Adrian Chatman had been antsy all day. He kept fidgeting at Science Station 2, which was his post out of frustration with his assignment. Ever since Commander Riker wanted the solar survey on Tolaris 4, Adrian had been under the gun for Riker had a reputation for being a stickler on punctuality. The survey however as Adrian was finding out, was pointless. There wasn't enough energy to measure from the star to get accurate readings. Adrian had pointed this fact out to his supervisor Lieutenant Tom Abrams but was ignored. In quiet frustration, Adrian continued to pound the keys on his console trying to futilely accomplish his task.

He'd been posted on the U.S.S. Enterprise for four months now, fresh out of the academy. Like most young men growing up in the Federation of Planets, he'd always thought Starfleet would be life full of adventure and excitement. That was the impression he got in the academy at least. Instead, he was learning the hard way that dreams and reality very rarely was the same thing. Instead of going on exciting away missions or battling Romulans, Adrian was stuck with the same mundane tasks day in and day out; scientific surveys on useless dead planets or stars close to going supernova. Had he known that being a Starfleet officer would entail this much tedium, he would've never joined.

"Something wrong Ensign?" A deep voice said behind Adrian as he continued to pound the panel. He slowly turned around to find the tall bearded visage of the first officer of the Enterprise, Commander William Riker standing behind him. He wasn't frowning but he wasn't exactly smiling neither. His red command uniform was as usual, impeccable and his beard had the perfect trim. Frowning, Adrian took a deep breath and stood aside to give Riker a better view of what he was working on. "Everything is wrong sir, this is pointless! I've been working on this survey for a week and have turned up absolutely nothing. Why am I doing this?" Adrian said with an angry shrug of his shoulders.

Now Riker began to frown. He didn't like being openly challenged like that, especially by a junior crewmember. "Ensign, you're way out of line! Watch your tone when you're on the bridge, you're a Starfleet officer." The first officer's condescending attitude only served to stoke Adrian's anger even further. He'd always had a problem with authority though he managed to get through the academy without too much incident, mostly because he was too busy studying. But the subjects he'd studied in the academy were far more interesting than actual application of his training.

Angrily, Adrian turned back to his panel. "Whatever sir." He muttered. As Riker turned to leave, he stopped when he heard the Ensign's parting shot. "What was that Ensign?" he asked gruffly. Adrian's shoulders rose up and down as he took deep breaths trying to control his rising anger. "I'm talking to you mister!" Riker roared this time grabbing Adrian's shoulder and spinning him around roughly.

That did it. Before Adrian even thought about it, he lashed out with a punch that connected with Riker's bearded jaw. The taller man stumbled back more from the surprise of the blow rather than the force. Snarling, Adrian came ahead with both fists clenched, his Starfleet combat training instinctively kicking in. He sent a knee into the hard mid-section of Riker that doubled him over with a loud exhalation of breath then brought both of his hands down in an axe-handle blow that connected with the back of Riker's neck

As Adrian tried to finish Riker off with another axe-handle blow to the face, the first officer countered with a knife-edge chop to the young Ensign's solar plexus. The blow staggered Adrian, stunning him for half a second. He saw the second blow from Riker coming, an open palm strike, but could not react fast enough to block it. By the time his hand did come up, the blow connected flush with Adrian's clean shaven jaw. The coppery taste of blood welled up in his mouth as he saw white flashes of stars before his eyes. Such was the force of the blow that it spun Adrian around three-hundred sixty degrees.

The world became hazy and the sounds around him became muted as if wet cotton were stuffed in Adrian's ears. Try as he might, he couldn't collect his wits quick enough to recover from the astonishing force of Commander Riker's blows. He never saw the crescent kick that the tall, long-limbed first officer unleashed that connected perfectly with his jaw as if out of a martial arts movie. That one singular kick was more powerful than anything Adrian had _ever_ been hit with in his life. Such was the force behind it that it sent him tumbling over the tactical position of Lieutenant Worf and onto Captain Picard's empty command chair. Fortunately, the Captain was otherwise occupied in his ready room with some research. Unconscious, Adrian slumped out of the chair and onto the cool, carpeted floor of the bridge. The last thing he heard before strong, rough hands hauled him up from his slumber was, "Get him off the bridge!" from an angry Commander Riker.

Adrian's head lolled loosely on his shoulders as two burly security officers held him from each side. "Did I get em?" he said punch-drunk, his mouth full of blood and possibly loosened teeth. The two security guards looked at each other and merely shook their heads in amusement as they hauled the wayward Ensign to the brig.

**The End**


End file.
